The Coupon Killer Short Story

The Coupon Killer is my first short story as L.E. Klein, another pseudonym. This may be a series, not certain yet. It's a humorous take on a woman detective and coupons. Since one member of my family is into coupons, this short story seemed logical. We sell our family off in pieces, you know. That's what Kathleen Eagle said during a speaking engagement and it's really true. My Potter-Daughter is just waiting for the "ax" to fall. :)

Here's the blurb on The Coupon Killer:

Short Story by L.E. Klein
L.E. Klein is a pseudonym for Cait London, also a pseudonym.
Meet Jenna Kowalski, a Kansas City suburb homicide detective. Recently divorced, Jenna holds her own in the all-male force. As the smallest, most agile, Jenna has been been hefted up, lowered down, and scrunched into places no woman should enter. She craves good bear-claw pastry, coffee, and Jose Morales, a co-worker. Her chances for the first two are good.
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A body found outside an alley dumpster has Jenna working a new case. The Body was a couponer, desperate enough to climb into the dumpster after them. The scissors found in her throat said someone didn’t like her. But then, as temporary lead detective, Jenna finds no one liked her, not even Maggie’s husband. The question is: Who killed Maggie? And can Jenna learn the ins and outs of couponing?
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While I'm epublishing my backlist, I'm also writing new stories and taking a real look at covers. Here's a new one for When Night Falls, now .99 at Kindle.


When Night Falls is now .99 for a limited time at Kindle.

Currently, I'm working on Sleepless in Montana, placing it into eformat. But I thought you'd enjoy The Coupon Killer, an 11,000 word short story, .99.

With constant updates on my titles, you may wish to subscribe to my free e-newsletter. And if you have time, I'd really appreciate your comments about When Night Falls new cover.

Romantic Suspense

Flashback is now in Kindle format and soon in other formats. This is the 2nd of a string of romantic suspense.

Some reviewers list my suspense stories as thrillers. I don't think so. Story weight usually falls heavily upon the characters, romance included. My stories are lighter romantic suspense, which means I keep the blood/gore/cursing down to a minimum, while seeking who did what, i.e. murder.

It's a reader-preference thingie. My stories usually do have a cast of characters, which not all readers prefer. Some do like the spread of family, backgrounds, etc. involved, which I think makes the best setup for character-driven stories.

Character-driver as opposed to plot driven, which would be more mystery. I like the lighter suspense and character emotions, the relationships, the backgrounds.

Backgrounds are so important; motivations and need arise in the character from the backgrounds.

Some time ago, a writer-friend and I were talking about "flat" writing styles. That is, the characters were not fleshed out, at least enough for the reader to grip and dig into them. That gripping comes from a familiar experience or something human to latch onto, drawn from similar experiences.

Background accomplishes the, well, background, upon which to set the foreground, and the story stream, what drives the characters, what matters to them....


For instance: if a character runs his thumb over a scar on furniture, it may remind him of how he built that cabinet, with his father, just before his father was murdered. What did his father say in that scene, anything for the writer to "latch onto" and create a clue to the murder?

Some things matter big-time.

Addressing the romantic side now: It's about the Bed. I've written about this before, but watch for next time.... :)